After a turbulent virtual county convention, Essex County Democrats have voted to endorse Essex County Commissioner Brendan Gill (D-Montclair), who overcame a late effort to get the county organization to abstain from endorsing anyone in the special election for New Jersey’s 11th congressional district.
As of the end of the convention, Gill had won 114 votes, while 81 committeemembers voted “abstain,” which if it had won a plurality would have meant that the county party would have stayed neutral in the race to succeed Gov.-elect Mikie Sherrill. The voting process was beset with technical issues throughout and around 30 ballots still remain to be counted, but Gill has secured enough votes to win regardless of how those remaining ballots shake out.
A smattering of votes went to other candidates: 16 to former Rep. Tom Malinowski, six to Passaic County Commissioner John Bartlett (D-Wayne), five to Maplewood Committeeman/former Mayor Dean Dafis, three to Bernie Sanders 2020 political director Analilia Mejia, two to Lieutenant Gov. Tahesha Way, and one to former congressional staffer Marc Chaaban.
Twelve of the 13 Democrats running for the seat were on committeemembers’ ballots; the one exception was Morris Township Committeeman/former Mayor Jeff Grayzel, who boycotted a convention that he decried as “rigged” in favor of Gill.
A Gill endorsement was by far the likeliest outcome of the night, and it came with more drama than might have been expected given the commissioner’s deep roots in Essex County politics. But several of the other candidates – like Dafis and Mejia, both county committeemembers who were eligible to vote at the convention – have their own Essex political networks, and the county committee includes many progressive, anti-establishment members who have become increasingly restive in recent cycles.
With the party endorsement in hand, Gill will be able to use the Essex Democratic slogan on the February 5 special primary ballot, and he’ll go forward with official support in a county that accounts for close to half of the 11th district’s Democratic primary electorate.
“I’m honored to earn the endorsement of the Essex County Democratic Organization,” Gill said in a statement following his victory. “The Essex County Democratic District Leaders are my neighbors and they are hardworking volunteers who power our elections, helping elect leaders like Governor-elect Mikie Sherrill, Senator Andy Kim, Senator Cory Booker, and Congresswoman LaMonica McIver. Their work is the reason we keep New Jersey blue. I’m proud to have their trust.”
The more than three-hour long convention did not, however, begin with the endorsement vote itself. Instead, Essex County Democratic Chairman LeRoy Jones chose to start with a vote on whether or not to hold the convention tonight at all. A number of county committeemembers and 11th district candidates had called for it to be delayed in order to give more time for everyone to learn about the race.
Jones said that the convention was scheduled so rapidly – the filing deadline for the election was just yesterday – because the deadline for changing ballot slogans is approaching on December 4, meaning that Essex Democrats needed to award their endorsement quickly in order for it to have an effect on primary ballots. (Another county organization, the Morris Democrats, chose instead to hold their convention on December 14 and relinquish their ability to award a ballot slogan.)
The vote was close, but narrowly came down in favor of keeping the convention on track: 133 committeemembers voted in favor of delaying, 142 voted against.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
